Hello every one! Long time no see! I am so sorry for the year+ hiatus and no response. It has been one thing after another for me. School, health, personal, work, writer's block, etc. I don't know if I will be back in full swing but I got the urge to write again so I am back from the dead with another chapter for you lovely folks.

ENJOY! XD

The black sand hovered over the Tri-State area. It didn't do anything but just instill fear and anxiety into the residents. The schools went into a lockdown, treating the unknown object as a major threat. The teachers tried everything to keep the curious students from the windows and the upset ones calm but no matter what they did, the children were out of control.

"What do you think it is, Ferb?" the redhead asked. His green haired step brother silently shrugged. "Well, it looks cool whatever it is. Maybe someone else in town is trying to make a large Etch A Sketch." The boy's eyes widened as if he got an idea and turned to his brother. "You go that?" Ferb held up a thumb after he finished scribbling in his notepad.

"Whatever it is, I don't like it."

Phineas turned to his left to see Dipper looking at the sky. "You think it's something bad?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. It just looks ominous."

"What's that mean?" Mabel asked as she popped her head between them.

"It means dangerous, scary, a threat," Ferb explained.

"I didn't know your brother talked!" Mabel squealed. "And his accent is so cool!" She began to squish his face as if he was a stuffed animal.

"He doesn't talk much," Phineas shrugged. He looked back at Dipper and noticed the uneasiness in his face. "I'm sorry about Tadashi. Are you okay?"

Dipper turned to the triangled shaped boy, his face still quite neutral. "I'm alright, I guess. I'm going to therapy. My parents say it would be good for me."

"Is it true what you saw?"

"Wh-what?"

"The triangle guy? Is it true?"

"How do you know about that?" Dipper began to wring his hands.

Phineas shrugged as he looked back at the black mass in the sky. "There have been rumors. One of the kids has a mom that works at the station and he overheard her talking about you."

"Oh." Dipper looked back at Mabel who was swinging off of Ferb like a jungle gym and smiled weakly. He then turned back to the window and watched with Phineas. "Could you not repeat that rumor? It would help a lot."

"Sure," Phineas smiled. "And don't worry about Ferb."

Dipper cracked a smile at Phineas' little joke but the small bit of happiness went away when he saw something move in the corner of his eye. "Did you see that? It looked like the sand is shifting towards the town."

Phineas watched closely and shook his head. "I don't s-"

"Attention students and faculty," the speaker in the classroom blared. "Please make your way to the gym in a calm and orderly fashion. Your parents and guardians have been contacted and will be here to pick you up very soon. In the meantime, you will wait with your fellow students and teachers calmly until your respective parents arrive."

"I guess you were right about this being bad," Phineas said as he went to gather his things. He stood by Ferb's side as they exited the classroom, Dipper and Mabel walking together right behind them. Phineas was uneasy now that the students were being moved and parents called but Ferb reassured him with a simple hand on the shoulder.

Dipper's eyes kept darting around as if waiting for something to jump out and attack them. "I don't like that they are moving us to the gym," he muttered to Mabel.

"Why not?" she asked. "Afraid they're going to make you run laps?"

"If that thing is a threat and knows how people react to such things, being in the gym is a bad idea. We're all sitting ducks! Easy to take out!"

"Pfft! You're too paranoid bro-bro," Mabel shrugged. "It's just a dark cloud. Everyone else is overreacting."

"A cloud made out of sand and moves independently? I don't think so."

The two sets of siblings turned around to see Hiro's class coming up next to them. His eyes were sunken and red from crying; his face pale from isolating himself most of the time. "Hiro?" Phineas said. "It's been a long time. How are you?"

The dark haired boy didn't answer the question and continued to talk about the black mass. "Have you noticed that parts are beginning to spiral down like a tornado?"

"I did notice it was moving," Dipper nodded.

"Yeah, I see the tornado forming!" Mabel said before tilting her head in confusion. "Is it bad that it's forming right above us?"

The group looked up at the sky and saw that a stem was forming not far from school grounds. Dipper grabbed Mabel's backpack and shoved her behind him while Phineas and Ferb looked at each other in concern as Hiro stood behind them with a hand on the shoulders of each set of siblings. "That's not good," Hiro said.

"Everyone into the gym now! Quickly!" a teacher hollered.

The students jogged towards the gym, teachers outlining the hallway as a means of neatly funnelling them inside. The group ran in together, staying in a huddle as they got ready to wait out the threat.

Mabel fisted some of Dipper's vest as the sand hit and scraped against the gym walls. "I still think being in here is a bad idea," Dipper repeated.

"I'll have to agree with you on that," Hiro nodded. "Look!"

Hiro pointed to the vents on the ceiling and watched as specs of black sand began to fall through, slow at first and then faster until it created a physical form. "Is that a horse?" Phineas asked, just as confused as everyone else in the gym. Everyone watched in wonder as more and more sand filtered through and created more mares.

In an instant, the mares began to dive into the crowd of students and faculty. A few students were lifted up into the air and then dropped into the crowd only to be trampled by the panicking people. Some were thrown across the room and knocked unconscious by the impact. Some of the mares transformed into their victims' nightmares to keep the terrified kids in a frenzy. Teachers and faculty jumped in front of students to take on the attacks from the mares or they pushed students out of the way from being hit.

Dipper backed himself and Mabel against the wall to avoid being hit by those running, putting himself between the chaos and Mabel. Phineas, Ferb, and Hiro followed suit trying to melt into the wall.

"What do we do?" Mabel whispered.

"I don't know," Dipper said. "We have nothing to defend ourselves with. We can't run home with these things running around, it's too far. The teachers can't help us, they're just as vulnerable as we are."

"Candace!"

"What about your sister?" Hiro asked as he pressed himself even more against the wall to avoid being hit by a runner.

"Her Panic Room," Phineas continued. "She has a Panic Room that is deep underground. It could keep us safe from these sand horses."

"Shouldn't we see if your sister is safe first? The middle school isn't too far from here."

"If I were your sister," Dipper spoke. "I would already be on my way here. If I thought you had headed home, that's where I'd go too."

"Candace would be headed home," Ferb said. He looked at Phineas, the two of them having a silent conversation, before the redhead nodded.

"I agree. Candace will be headed home. It's just a few streets down, we should be able to make it."

"Dipper! What about Mom and Dad? They're on their way to pick us up."

"Not if we're in the middle of whatever this is," Dipper shook his head. "They'll try but the next place they'd go would be home. We'll get ahold of them once this whole thing is over." He grabbed Mabel's hand and began to make his way towards the double doors.

Taking a deep breath and a confirmation nod from the others, he threw open the door and ran into the whirlwind of sand, making sure he kept a tight grip on Mabel. She in turn grabbed Hiro's hand and he repeated the gesture until all five were linked together. Dipper pushed his way through the sand until he was in a clearing and led the group behind a dumpster.

The five of them took deep calming breaths as the sounds of screams and destruction echoed in their ears. Phineas peaked his head around the dumpster to see a few mares pick up one of the escaped students and carry it away. "It looks like these things are taking prisoners."

"Is this an invasion?" Mabel asked.

"I don't know," Hiro breathed. "But it definitely looks like it."

"It looks like the coast will be clear here in a minute," Dipper whispered. He looked back at the others to make sure they heard him. "Be ready."

Before anyone could act, a mare introduced itself to the hidden group, grabbing Dipper's leg and dragging him out. He screamed in fright but grabbed the side of the dumpster in resistance while the others grabbed his arms to help pull him back. The mare was beginning to win as Dipper lost his grip on the dumpster and he began to slip through his friends' fingers.

"No!" Hiro yelled as Dipper went flying from their hands.

"I'm sorry Mabel!" Dipper cried as he began to fly through the air. He kicked against the mare's grasp and found that he was falling to the ground with a painful splat. Looking up he saw Mabel with a two-by-four in her hand and holding it in her hand like a bat.

"Come near my brother again! I dare you!" she yelled.

The mare neighed as if it was laughing then charged towards her. Mabel's eyes went wide as she wasn't expecting the thing to actually take her up on the challenge but she readied herself for the fight. She swung at the mare but it dodged the wood and yanked it out of her hand and threw it to the side. Mabel began to back away as it approached her looking for anything else to use for defense but she was out of luck. Just as the mare leaped forward, it was shattered into sand particles. "Dipper!" she cried joyfully, seeing that he had taken up her wooden weapon. "You killed it!"

"Are you okay, Mabel?" he asked as he dropped the wood and hugged her.

"Yeah, bro-bro. You?"

"I'm fine," he smiled as he pulled back. "Back's going to be a bit sore but I'll live. Thanks." A scream from behind him made Dipper jump and pull the two of them back behind the dumpster.

"That was sick," Hiro said as he high-fived the twins. "Do you think we can still make it?"

"I think we can," Phineas nodded. "It looks like these creatures can be beaten down. We just need something to defend ourselves." He looked up at the dumpster's opening and swiftly jumped in. A few moments later, he jumped back out with a variety of objects. "These pieces of wood and metal should work. I even found a crowbar!"

"I call crowbar!" Mabel cried as she raised her hand.

Phineas gave her the crowbar and passed out the other pieces so each one was armed. Dipper ran out from behind the dumpster to grab the wood he used earlier and re-joined the group as they made their weapons more familiar in their hands. "Those things are flying everywhere. We'll have to move a little at a time; find a place to hide, run, and hide again."

"I suggest that we keep our backs to each other so that we cover all sides," Ferb advised.

"But we're an odd number," Hiro pointed out. "Someone's going to be exposed."

As if the universe heard them, a girl with black hair and purple dress somersaulted out of the nearby door and quickly slammed the door shut in a mare's face, the dust particles scattering in surprise. She grabbed a nearby piece of debri and shoved it into the door handle to prevent the door from opening from the wave of mares running down the hall.

"Sorry naught horsies. Not today."

"That was awesome!" Mabel exclaimed, surprising the dark haired girl. "Grab a weapon and join our party to safety? We could use an extra person."

With a collective nod of agreement, the six kids moved to the next hiding spot with ease. Not a single mare saw them, so they continued to the next checkpoint. Every once in a while, a mare or two would notice them and attack only to be taken down by a swing or two. All around them, the kids watched in horror as the mares continued to grab people and carry them off or just drop them onto the ground.

"We're almost there," Phineas announced softly. The group gave sighs of relief at the news, wanting to relax. "If we remain careful, we should be there in the next few minutes." They began to cross the street so that they were closer to their house but were suddenly stopped by a herd of mares that quickly encompassed them. "Okay, we need to be more careful."

The mares slowly began to close in on the group, forcing them to get closer to each other. Each of them began to swing violently and yelling for them to stay away but they kept coming.

"What do we do, Hiro?" Dipper yelled.

"I-I don't know! There's no way out!"

Pitch hovered over the world, a grin spreading across his face as the fear and panic from seven billion people drenched the atmosphere. It didn't matter if Phase One would succeed as he wanted because in the end, these few minutes would cause enough trauma in everyone to easily replenish his army of mares over the next few months and possibly years. Enough fuel to help with the future phases.

This was nothing.

This was the test run.

Mare after mare flew past him, carrying men, women, and children. One even looked to have a complete family. The cries and pleads for release fell on deaf ears as he waited for the right opportune moment to strike the school. Phase One had to be completed first before he could deliver the final blow to North and his precious children.

He grinned even wider knowing that the school would be easily taken. The students had no real experience in a fight and were soft to the danger of the outside world. Once that forcefield went down, it would be easy pickings. The fear he and the other Reapers built into the student's psyches over the years would be their downfall.

Fear was always everyone's downfall.

The room remained in chaos for what seemed like hours. Mares ran around the group in circles; nipping, kicking, pushing, biting, and knocking them down. Each person did their best to try and fend them off but no luck.

Toothless continued to provide protection fire for the others but he was one dragon against dozens of mares. Every once in a while there was a flash of light from Jack's staff that would allow the others to see but immediately make the darkness even darker from the lack of light.

"I may look cool in movies but fighting under strobe lights is not fun," Fishlegs noted.

"I'm going to have to agree with the bookworm," Ruff shouted.

"Then the world must be ending," Tuff gasped loudly. "You would never openly admit to agreeing with him."

"I'm sorry. I don't know how to shoot ice without the light!"

From somewhere in the middle of the room, a bright yellow light began to grow. It traveled across the room and weaved around every individual giving them the much needed light to find off the mares. Just under the sound of mares whining, metal scraping, grunts, and sand falling, there was a low, calming hum traveling throughout the room.

Merida could now see several mares surrounding her brothers and quickly jumped in front of them. Before she even touched the ground, she let off several arrows, each dispersing a set of mares. She watched as her mother leaped behind her father and Stoick, rearing up and stomping on three mares planning on attacking them from behind.

Astrid saw that Fishlegs and the twins were surrounded by mares. She produced a few daggers in her hand and threw them, thinning out the group. Following her daggers was a pair of boomerangs that finished off the rest. She watched as North fended off a half dozen mares that were attacking Snotlout and Toothless.

As suddenly as the mares had appeared, they disappeared. The room was lit up again but the adrenaline was still rushing through everyone's veins. North kept his swords up ready for another surprise attack. "That can have been it."

"Maybe he just wanted to flex his muscles?" Snotlout suggested. "All bark and no bite, maybe?"

"Not Pitch," Bunny shook his head. "He's got something planned."

After a few minutes of just standing and waiting, Elinor reverted back to her human form and placed a hand on Fergus. "I think we're safe for now."

Everyone relaxed. North dropped his swords and began to inquire about the status of the students and faculty in the rest of school; Elinor and Fergus walked over to their children and gave them a long, strong, bear hug; Bunny checked on the globe; Astrid collapsed in exhaustion from making so many weapons; and Jack slowly loosened his grip of his staff and drifted down to the floor.

The low humming everyone was hearing stopped and Rapunzel followed the others onto the floor. Jack ran over to her and shook her. "Punzie! Punzie! Are you okay?"

Merida ran over to him to try and wake her friend up. "Oi! Blondie. Come on, wake up."

"Flynn?" Rapunzel mumbled as her eyes flickered open. "What happened?"

"You saved our skins," Astrid panted. "That was some skill with your hair."

Rapunzel sat up and pinched the bridge of her nose. "The world is spinning too fast and now I have a headache."

"You're going to need some time to recover, lass," Fergus said as he knelt down. "Too much energy used on that night light trick."

"Aye. Same with you Astrid," Gobber agreed. "You've never pushed yourself that hard."

Gobber's attention, as well as everyone else's, was then directed to the far wall as a low worried gurgle echoed. Toothless nudged against Hiccup's unconscious body until he was sitting upright so that he could get a better look at him. His body would have fallen over repeatedly if Stoick did hold the boy steady. Gobber, Astrid, and Snotlout's heart raced seeing the two together.

"He's breathing," Stoick stated. "I think he just got the wind knocked out of him. I don't feel a bump on the back of his head."
Hiccup began to stir and opened his eyes to see Stoick's face near his. His body tensed up seeing someone's face so close to him but quickly relaxed. "Where are the mares?"

"It's alright, son. They're gone," Stoick smiled reassuringly. He placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him square in the eyes. "Do you feel like anything is broken?"

Hiccup slowly began to move his limbs around and slowly shook his head. "I don't think so. Just a headache maybe."

"That's good." Stoick smiled again, his eyes lingering on the small boy.

Hiccup didn't tense or feel awkward under the stare, instead he seemed to stare back in confusion. His head tilted and his brow furrowed as he continued to stare at the man. Toothless looked anxiously between the pair as Astrid, Snotlout, and Gobber watched in anticipation. "Do I know you?" Hiccup finally asked. "You seem familiar."

"You've probably seen him in my classroom," Gobber spoke up quickly. "This is Stoick, my best mate."

"Ah. Nice to meet you finally." He held out his hand for Stoick to shake.

"Likewise." Stoick helped the boy up and leaned against Toothless for support.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Astrid asked. With a weak smile, he nodded and she returned it with a nod of her own.

"The school seems to still be intact," North stormed back in. "No injuries or attacks in any of the other buildings."

"Globe is good. Nothing strange to report there."

Tooth suddenly came flying into the room, panic evident in her fluttering wings. "North, there is a major problem!"

"What is it?"

"Pitch didn't just attack here, he attacked everywhere!"

"WHAT!?" Everyone exclaimed.

She flew over to the nearest TV and switched it on. Every channel had footage from news stations to amateur showing the mares attacking schools, businesses, farms, hospitals, nursing homes, and every other building in between. They watched as mares flew past the cameras with people in their bellies. Gasps came from all of them to see such a horrendous sight.

"Why?" Rapunzel asked. "Why take them?"

The room was quiet with uncertain shock. Never in a million years did they think that Pitch would be capable of such misery and fear. And on a global level. "This doesn't seem like Pitch's complete doing," Tooth said quietly.

"Oh but it is." The room spun quickly and prepped for an attack but they saw nothing. Slowly, Pitch's shadow appeared on the Globe and grinned manically at them all. "You all look so small from up here. Helpless and weak to stop what is coming."

"You wanna know what's coming Pitch?" Bunny asked. "Your defeat!" He threw his boomerangs but Pitch easily dodged them and materialized somewhere else.

"Why take the people?" Elinor demanded.

"They are the lucky ones," Pitch beamed. "They will be useful. It's everyone else left behind you must worry about." He laughed as he disappeared from the room.

"Oh come on!" Tuff sighed. "Enough with the disappearing act!"

"Yeah!" Ruffed nodded. "How can he be a threat if he just keeps coming in and out like a shadow puppet?" As if on cue, the entire ground shook. "Okay, I think I'll keep my mouth shut."

Rapunzel fell against Merida who then dominoed into her brothers, falling into a heap on the floor. Toothless used his wings to cover Hiccup from some rubble falling from the newly cracked ceiling. Once the shaking stopped, Toothless' nubs perked and then immediately flattened as a blood curdling growl escaped his throat. Hiccup's eyes went wide with fear as he turned to the group. "The Reapers are here."

"No!" Candace screeched as she watched the hovering black sand spiral down towards where her brothers' school was located. Why? What's going on? Her fingernails dug into the window sill as she watched the sand continue to spiral, completely ignoring the chaos around her. All she could think about were her brothers and how she was going to get them to safety.

But what can I do? I'm several blocks away. And if I do get to them, then what? I'm not smart or strong. I can't fend off horses.

She felt a grainy breath on her shoulder and her eyes went wide. She slowly turned around to come face to face with yellow eyes. She screamed at the top of her lungs on a frequency that the mare wasn't prepared for and skittered away in pain.

She now saw the chaos in her classroom. A half dozen or more mares were chasing her peers around the room, some being picked up and dragged away. Her legs were locked with fright as she tried to make sense of the whole situation. First, a funeral and now this? What are the odds?

One of the mares noticed her and began to charge. Candace watched as it morphed into a giant spider and that was the motivation she needed to book it out of the classroom and out of the school. Spiders, being her biggest phobia, was enough motivation to make Candace run from anything.

Outside was no better though. Cars were crashing into each other as mares attacked from all sides, poles were falling, and buildings were catching on fire. It was a nightmare that Candace wanted to wake up from. She closed her eyes and curled in on herself wishing to wake up from the dream and be safe in her panic room.

"The panic room. It is safe there," she smiled. "If my brothers are smart, and they are, they will be heading there too."

With a boost of confidence and resolve, she grabbed a broken chair leg and began to make her way home. She dodged mares by ducking behind trees, diving into dumpsters, and rolling along the ground. Every once in a while she was able to help someone get away from the mares but only when she thought it was safe.

I need to be there for my brothers. I can't worry about others.

A tearful, happy smile crossed her face as she approached her street but it dropped the moment she rounded the corner. Her limbs froze again as she saw Hiro and her brothers surrounded by quite a few mares. They, along with the others in their group, held up their weapons and swung at the mares to back them off.

One mare grabbed the mop Hiro held and yanked it out of his hands, tossing it aside. Another turned and kicked the crowbar out of the brown haired girl's hands only to have her yell something about being rude. Next she saw a mare charge at Phineas knocking him down and grabbing the wrench in his hands, lifting the boy off the ground.

"No!" Candace roared as she charged the mares, swinging wildly with her broken chair leg. A few scattered, frightened off by her cry, and a few she took down. She glared down at the one holding her brother off the ground and gritted, "Let. My. Brother. Go!" She then raised her weapon and brought it down on the mare's head, the sand dispersing through the air.

Phineas fell and immediately hugged her waist. "Candace! I knew you'd be here! That was awesome!" The others followed suit and they were embracing in a big group hug in the middle of the street, in the middle of an invasion.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get inside and ride, whatever this is, out." She ushered them towards the house quickly but not quickly enough. She screamed as a mare grabbed her skirt and began to fly off with her.

"Candace!" Phineas cried as he ran after her, leaping to grab her hand. The others followed and were able to bring her back down to Earth just long enough for her feet to touch before the mare pulled back with more force and lifted Candace even higher.

She watched as her brothers and their friends got smaller with every passing second. "Get to the Panic Room!"

"Candace!" Her brother's voice was barely a whisper through the atmosphere.